OAS/Ser.L/V/II. Doc. 176 29 September 2019 Original: Spanish INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Situation of Human Rights of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Pan-Amazon Region 2019 iachr.org OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Situation of human rights of the indigenous and tribal peoples of the Pan-Amazon region : Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on September 29, 2019. p. ; cm. (OAS. Official records ; OEA/Ser.L/V/II) ISBN 978-0-8270-6931-2 1. Indigenous peoples--Civil rights--Amazon River Region. 2. Indigenous peoples-- Legal status, laws, etc.--Amazon River Region. 3. Human rights--Amazon River Region. I. Title. II. Series. OEA/Ser.L/V/II. Doc.176/19 INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Members Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño Joel Hernández García Antonia Urrejola Margarette May Macaulay Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva Flávia Piovesan Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão Assistant Executive Secretary for Monitoring, Promotion and Technical Cooperation María Claudia Pulido Assistant Executive Secretary for the Case, Petition and Precautionary Measure System Marisol Blanchard a.i. Chief of Staff of the Executive Secretariat of the IACHR Fernanda Dos Anjos In collaboration with: Soledad García Muñoz, Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER) Approved by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on September 29, 2019 INDEX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 INTRODUCTION 19 CHAPTER 1 | INTER-AMERICAN STANDARDS ON INDIGENOUS AND TRIBAL PEOPLES APPLICABLE TO THE PAN-AMAZON REGION 27 A. Inter-American Standards Applicable to Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in the Pan-Amazon Region 29 1. Self-Identification and Recognition of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 29 2. Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination and Their Own Models of Development 30 3. Right to Collective Property 31 4. State Obligations in Relation to Extraction, Exploitation, and Development Activities 34 5. Ethnic and Cultural Discrimination 36 6. Right to a Life of Dignity from an Indigenous World View 38 B. Approaches 39 1. Intercultural Approach 39 2. Gender Perspective 40 3. Intergenerational Solidarity Approach 41 CHAPTER 2 | SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS AND TRIBAL PEOPLES IN THE PAN-AMAZON REGION 45 A. Dispossession of Lands and Territories and Barriers to Recognition of Ownership 45 B. Obstacles to the Use of Traditional Territory Associated with Extractive or Development Projects 52 1. Mining 53 2. Infrastructure 54 3. Hydroelectric Projects 56 4. Energy and Oil and Gas Projects 58 C. Contamination of Rivers and Water Sources, and Obstacles to Water and Food Access 60 1. Mining (Legal and Illegal) 61 2. Use of Toxic Substances in Agri-Industry 66 3. Infrastructure Projects 66 4. Oil and Gas Projects 67 5. Access to Water and Sanitation Services 69 6. Impact on Food 70 D. Desertification and Deforestation 71 E. Loss of Biodiversity and Protected Natural Areas 75 1. Protected Natural Areas (PNA) 77 F. Obstacles to Cultural and Spiritual Practices 79 G. Impairments to Health 84 H. Murders and Attacks against Members of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 87 I. Splitting of Communities and Fracturing of the Social Fabric 92 J. Forced Displacements 94 K. Major Difficulties and Obstacles to Access to Justice 97 L. Criminalization of Leaders and Members of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 101 M. Other Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Pan-Amazon Region 104 1. Violence, Militarization, and Armed Conflict 104 2. Human Mobility, Trafficking in Persons, Forced Labor, and Newer Forms of Slavery 107 CHAPTER 3 | PRINCIPAL IMPAIRMENTS TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS AND TRIBAL PEOPLPES IN THE PAN-AMAZON REGION 115 A. Right to Collective Ownership and Guarantees Related to Land, Territory, and Natural Resources 115 B. The Right to Self-Determination and the Right to Prior, Free, and Informed Consultation 119 C. The Right to Prior, Free, and Informed Consultation in States in the Amazon Region 123 D. The Right to a Healthy Environment from an Indigenous Worldview Perspective 132 E. Right to Water and Food 134 F. Right to Cultural and Spiritual Identity, and to the Indigenous Cultural Heritage. 139 G. Right to Health 142 H. Life and Physical and Sexual Integrity 145 CHAPTER 4 | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN VOLUNTARY ISOLATION AND INITIAL CONTACT IN THE AMAZON REGION 151 A. Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact in the Americas 154 B. Domestic Laws on Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation or Initial Contact 158 1. Laws and Public Policies 158 2. Decisions by Judical or Administrative Bodies 164 3. Territorial Protection 167 4. Bilateral or Multilateral Cooperation Efforts for the Protection of Peoples in Isolation in Transborder Areas 173 C. Main Threats to the Full Enjoyment of the Human Rights of Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact 175 1. Contact 175 2. Pressure on Lands and Territories 177 3. Extraction of Natural Resources 181 4. Infections and Other Diseases 184 5. Direct Attacks 186 6. Drug Trafficking 188 CHAPTER 5 | CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 193 APPENDIX 1 AMAZONIAN COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES 199 APPENDIX 2 PRONOUNCEMENTS BY THE ORGANS OF THE INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM WITH REGARD TO THE PEOPLES OF THE AMAZON REGION 207 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summary | 11 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Pan-Amazon region is one of the most biodiverse territories on earth, with vast cultural and biological wealth. From ancestral times this region has been occupied by indigenous and tribal peoples who continue to pursue their traditional way of life. In addition, this geographic space represents a source of subsistence for the whole planet because it is a biome that operates as a global climatic stabilizer. The Pan-Amazon region covers some 7 million km2, spread across nine countries, and is home to 34 million persons, a considerable part of whom belong to some 350 indigenous peoples, including those in voluntary isolation and initial contact. 2. In recent years this territory has experienced complex changes. In furtherance of its mandate, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter the “IACHR,” the “Commission,” or the “Inter-American Commission”) has received worrisome information about serious problems that affect the Amazonian indigenous and tribal peoples. Serious impacts have been observed that result from several factors: the impact produced by legal provisions, public policies, and practices geared to the extraction and exploitation of natural resources, as well as the development infrastructure megaprojects or investments without consultation and without free, prior, and informed consent. These impacts endanger these peoples’ physical and cultural survival, as well as the environment. In this regard, it is important to note that the challenges highlighted by the IACHR through its various mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights have become further aggravated. These observations have been set forth in its prior publications, including the reports Afro-Descendent Communities, and Natural Resources: Human Rights Protection in the Context of Extraction, Exploitation, and Development Activities (2016) and Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas: Recommendations for the full respect of their human rights (2013). 3. In response to this situation, the IACHR decided to prepare this thematic report on the “Situation of Human Rights of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in the Pan- Amazon region,” for the purpose of addressing the issue of the peoples who live in this territory in light of the standards of the inter-American human rights system. The preparation of this document constitutes the first joint initiative with the Pan- Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM: Red Eclesial Pan-Amazónica) in the context of carrying out Program 12 of Objective 3 of the IACHR’s 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, which seeks to strengthen agreements with academic research centers and give impetus to the formation of an Academic Network Specialized in the Inter-American Human Rights System. 4. In the process of preparing this report information has been collected on the legal frameworks and public policies in force in each country through the information provided by the states involved and various civil society organizations by answering Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR 12 | Situation of Human Rights of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Pan-Amazon Region the questionnaires prepared for this purpose. In addition, the voices of indigenous leaders were drawn on for a sociocultural representation of these peoples. In this context, cases and testimonies will be set forth that illustrate the principal situations that have drawn the attention of the Commission, albeit noting that there are hundreds of other peoples who are also impacted by the above-mentioned processes. 5. This Report includes an introduction, five chapters, and two annexes. The introduction makes reference to the general characteristics of the Pan-Amazon region and to the history of the indigenous and tribal peoples who have lived there from time immemorial. Moreover, information is provided on the complex processes of interethnic relations that those communities experienced and continue to experience. It includes reference to the Afrodescendent communities living in Pan-Amazon region and who persist as ethnically and culturally differentiated communities. Similarly, explicit mention